| President Musharraf should not feel unduly dispirited at the prospect of summoning a national election in October. It may comfort him to know that a seasoned British parliamentarian, even after 500 years of democracy, bemoaned the electoral process as ‘a regrettable necessity’. It will certainly reassure him to learn that at least one of his predecessors - President General Yahya Khan – who found himself in a similar predicament in 1970, shared parallel apprehensions. |
| Talking to US President Richard Nixon during a visit to Washington on 25 October 1970, President Yahya Khan told him that he intended to hold elections on 7 December but complained of ‘the absurd levels’ to which politicians were prepared to stoop. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for example, he disclosed, had accused him of delaying the elections so he could ‘sell out Pakistan’ in a secret deal with Mrs. Indira Gandhi in New York, where Mrs. Gandhi and Yahya Khan had gone separately to attend the 25th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations. All too conscious of the travails of a parliamentary presidency, Nixon commiserated, expressing the hope that Yahya would ensure ‘a strong presidency as in France.’ Yahya replied: “Without it Pakistan would disintegrate. Our people like the Parliamentary system only because they have been ruled by Britain for so many centuries, but they do not have the prerequisite, namely a two-party system; we have about 35 parties.’ |
Published in DAWN 14 Feb. 2002, and reprinted in WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE & OTHER WRITINGS (2006) |
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